IP education
Closing the Gender Gap in Intellectual Property (IP)
Jennifer Brant, Executive Director of Innovation Council, Co-author of “Policy Approaches to Close the Intellectual Property Gender Gap – Practices to Support Access to the Intellectual Property System for Female Innovators, Creators and Entrepreneurs”, spoke in a sharing session on “Women and IP” organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Launch of New “Horizon IP Scan” Support Service for SMEs
The European Commission recently launched a service called the “Horizon Intellectual Property Scan.” This tailored, first-line, free-of-charge IP support service is specifically designed to help European start-ups and other SMEs to efficiently manage—and derive value from—IP that they create in collaborative research and innovation efforts, especially those that are connected with EU-funded Horizon 2020/Europe projects. Building on a vast network of experienced, local IP experts, covering all EU Member States and Horizon 2020/Europe associated countries, the Horizon IP Scan team provides individual, professional, jargon-free assessments of SMEs’ intangible assets.
International Women’s Day: Actions to help women entrepreneurs
This infographic from the Innovation Council highlights five strategies to address the gender gap in IP and encourage innovation. Among the strategies identified are better data collection, projects to connect girls and women to IP, and targeted programs to encourage women to pursue careers in IP law.
Challenges for women entrepreneurs & strategies to address the gender IP gap
Innovation Council prepared these slides to raise awareness regarding five challenges that contribute to the IP gender gap. You can read about actions to address the IP gender gap here.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has commissioned a study, which is to be released shortly, for the purpose of identifying policies that enhance access to the intellectual property (IP) system by women inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs. While stating that it is not yet possible to identify a list of “best practices” in this area—due simply to a low level of research on the subject to date—the authors pinpoint a number of promising programs for the advancement of women in the IP system. They distill both a short list of barriers to women’s success in this arena and a lineup of possible next steps towards surmounting each of them.
Harnessing Public Research for Innovation in the 21st Century
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), together with Cambridge University press, has published a book to propose a framework to evaluate knowledge transfer practices, improve knowledge transfer metrics and evaluation frameworks, generate findings on what does and does not work regarding knowledge transfer, and offer relevant policy lessons. It does so based on studies and insights from three developed and three emerging economies: the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, China, and South Africa. The book reflects WIPO’s larger program of support for universities and research institutions in the use of IP for advancing knowledge transfer to support economic growth and sustainable futures.
Updated ICC innovation principles
The Innovation Chamber of Commerce has published the latest edition of the ICC Innovation Principles, a guide to the policy frameworks that create and nurture robust innovation ecosystems. The principles are separated into four sections, which provide an overview of the policy framework that businesses of all sizes need to be familiar with in order to innovate. The principles focus on Innovation Ecosystems, in recognition of the complex and interconnected nature of innovative activity. A call is made for multistakeholder conversations in all policy forums that affect these ecosystems, allowing businesses to show the inner workings of innovation.
Girl Scouts Intellectual Property Patch Program
The Rocky Mountain Regional U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will host the second annual Intellectual Property (IP) Patch Program, in collaboration with the Girl Scouts of Colorado. Junior Girl Scouts are invited to come learn about inventions and patents, and to receive their IP Patch.
The program includes support for the girls’ normal school curriculum, as well as structured activities for girls of all ages. These activities are designed to increase awareness of, and interest in, the creation and protection of intellectual property (IP) across disciplines, and particularly as it relates to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Read the full story.
Ideas Powered initiative: Believe in the power of ideas
Ideas Powered is an initiative by the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to raise awareness of the value of IP and the importance of respecting it. Trademarks, designs, patents, and copyright, as well as geographical indications and other IP rights, help individuals and businesses develop and grow, and to share their ideas, creations, and products.
Part of Ideas Powered’s mission consists of explaining to young Europeans how to protect their creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, a practice which should be deeply rooted in any education fit for the 21st century.
International Women’s day: Women in Innovation event
On 8 March, join a panel discussion on “Women in Innovation: Providing leadership, creating solutions, and driving change,” at the Africa Health International Agenda Conference. The session is co-organized by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC), and the Innovation Council.
Many of the speakers will have made an impact in their communities, or regionally and/or globally, by thinking differently and driving change through innovation and creativity.